


Show Me Wonder

by tieria



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Falling In Love, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythology References, Soul Bond, Summoning, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-10-31 06:47:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17844431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tieria/pseuds/tieria
Summary: Homura Takeru is a summoner on a quest for the flame of life that was stolen from him by a callous man and his mad experiments. His summon, Flame... very much would rather not have been bothered. But whether he likes it or not- the quest begins, and it only brings them closer and closer.(Both to the truth- and to each other.)





	Show Me Wonder

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this fic.... a very long time ago, so some bits might clash a little bit with how Flame and Takeru's relationship developed in canon! Please just... chalk it up to being an au (lol) I'm so excited to finally share it! Please enjoy ~11.5k of pure Furehomu AU!

“What exactly are you?”

The question came soft from the darkness, slipping out from the falling embers and dancing through the moonlight that cut in long slices through the pews of the empty church. Flame opened his eyes to the last of the fire burning out from him a fading circle, fizzling away towards the magic of the runes drawn across the floor. He took in the small human before him, book opened in their hand and magic still dancing blue at their fingertips- his summoner, who knew not what they’d called.

Flame laughed, great and booming in the empty church. “Is it not obvious? I am a demon.”

“You,” the human said, “are a demon?”

The mortal wasn’t trembling. They were… regarding him, certainly, there was no mistake about that. They even had corrective lenses on. No, there was no doubt that Flame was being _seen._

Yet they seemed not afraid.

“You’re… small.”

Flame looked down at himself, then up at his summoner. Far up. Frustratingly so. _Huh-_ so he was.

And by no fault of his own, of course. He floated upwards- this crude circle hadn’t robbed him of his ability to do that, at least- until he rested at about eye level with the mortal.

“This,” he explained sagely, priding himself on holding his patience, “is a result of your shoddy summoning.”

“Wha- shoddy? I spent three months on this,” the mortal protested, leaning forwards to glare.

“Then perhaps you should have spent four,” Flame suggested helpfully.

“ _Four?_ You wanted me to spend _four months_ preparing to summon you? _”_

No, Flame thought, the human was right. He said, crossing his arms and nodding in what he dared not quite call approval- “No, your incredulity is valid! Four months is _nowhere_ near enough for someone like you. You’d need at least six to summon me at my full power.”

The human made a terrible choking noise. Flame moved to check his condition- because it would be very inconvenient for his summoner to suddenly keel over of strain when Flame had only just arrived in the mortal realm again- but promptly smacked his head against the edge of the circle, a faint barrier rising from the chalk and blood lines of it. _Ah,_ Flame thought- so he had promise after all. That was good. If he’d truly been as incompetent as his aura suggested, then Flame might have considered simply eating his magic and going about his merry way.

“So. To business, mortal. Why have you summoned me?”

The summoner eyed him dubiously. Flame had no idea why. “First of all, my name is Takeru. Use it. I summoned you, and I can throw you right back where you came from.”

“I rather doubt that,” Flame said, looking Takeru over again. Nothing would change how scrawny his aura was. He couldn’t summon a catbat from a summoning circle even with all the graces in the world with how flimsy-looking his magic felt. “You magic is very fragile. The fact you even managed to summon me is somewhat of a miracle. Did you have help?”

Not that Flame had sensed any, but this hadn’t been a traditional summoning. One moment he had been in his domain, ruling over his world of dreams, and the next he’d blinked and found himself here, staring down a senseless mortal.

But Takeru only ignored him. Quite rudely, at that, Flame thought, burning a hair at the slight.

“Second,” Takeru said, leaning over to stare Flame in the eyes, pulling his glasses off with a hand- and if Flame had any need to breathe, then in that instant it would have caught in his throat. For hidden in the depths of Takeru’s eyes was a sigil, burning a blue flame in the grey of his iris. It was ornate and elegant, a wing trailing burning feathers stylized down into a few ley lines- runes that predated even Flame. “I’m not human.”

“So you aren’t.”

A _phoenix._ What a strange species, Flame thought. Creatures that crossed freely into the mortal realms and presented their feathers to the ones judged most worthy- most virtuous, most ambitious, most worthy of a second chance. To clutch a phoenix feather in one’s final moments was to live again. To bear witness to a phoenix in flight was the greatest honor a mortal man could have. The holiest of gifts of the heavens, bestowed not by the angels but by the birds.

Takeru leaned back and replaced his glasses atop his nose, the sigil in his eye dying down slightly behind the thin glass. But one thing remained unanswered. “If you truly are a phoenix, then why is your power so-” Flame waved a hand in a vague circle- “flimsy?”

“My feathers,” Takeru said, and the shadow of great wings unfurled from his back- threadbare, picked down near to the bone. Pain was but a novelty to demons; nonetheless he recognized it clear across Takeru’s face as he stretched them out wide, draping the church wall behind them in spindly shadow. “They were stolen from me.”

Flame narrowed his eyes- even with his lack of phoenix contacts, he knew that was a grave crime. Phoenix feathers given freely would regenerate themselves with the bloody sky at sunset. Feathers stolen would bleed magic from their owner’s open wounds unless they were returned- either to the phoenix, or to the earth.

 _What fragile creatures,_ Flame thought, crossing his arms in consideration again. Nothing like himself, of course, the core of him pulsing strong with magic still. “And you have no leads?”

Takeru glanced away, up towards one of the high, clear windows, then stared at Flame with determination renewed. “A dragonborn defeated the man who stole them from me. But I don’t know what he did with the feathers.”

“So your goal is to reclaim them,” Flame said, nodding sagely- a simple enough quest. Proper and righteous, a noble endeavor. Certainly no creature in all the realms could fault him for it.

“So I can go home again,” Takeru added. To the Kingdom above the Clouds- a beautiful thing, by all accounts. Flame got the vague sense of buildings clouded in beautiful white, glimmering in the perpetual light. Moonflowers blossomed and the sunlight bathed the phoenixes in fire below, clans bound together tight by blood and by choice.

Truly, Flame thought, an honorable purpose. But there was still one thing left unaccounted for. He asked- “And where in this shoddy plan of yours did summoning a demon factor in?”

Takeru may not have been a mortal, but he certainly had the foolish sense of one. Perhaps he was a young phoenix, then. Not that Flame had ever heard of such a thing, but if young demons could exist, then surely young phoenixes could as well.

Takeru folded his arms. “That- you know what? You’re going to help me find them.”

“And why would I do that?”

“You can sense them, can’t you?” Takeru said, as if it should have been obvious. Flame was about to voice protest, but as he blinked, readying his words-

Huh. Certainly he could, small beacons of light in the darkness when he closed his eyes. There was one concentration stronger than the rest; Flame assumed that would be the place to start. If he truly was going to be bound to this phoenix, he could certainly do with him being a tad less fragile. “I have no reason to help you. I will, out of the graciousness of my heart. But do know what an honor it is to be partners with a demon as powerful as I.”

“No, you really don’t have a choice here,” Takeru said, and drew a circle over his left wrist with two fingers, curling them tight against his skin.

And something- a jolt, a spark, oil thrown over his soul- blazed through him as flames danced over Takeru’s skin, burning without harm. Flame met his gaze with wide eyes, and Takeru nodded, looking rather pleased with the blue sparks dancing down to ashes at his fingertips. “So you’re either with me until I release you, or until I’m dead. And I’d kinda like it not to be the second one.”

Flame had no preference either way, really. But as a demon he had pride, and his sense of justice could never let him leave such a weak little creature pained at his feet- not when they weren’t asking for mercy, but for action. Flame nodded. He could respect that. “Then I suppose that make us partners, yes?”

Takeru began to nod, but before he got halfway there, Flame continued- “Then as partners, I insist you let me out of this suffocating circle. If you’re to gather those feathers, then I will be coming with you.”

Takeru blinked, momentarily taken aback- then nudged his foot forward and scratched out the chalk at the very edge of the runes. It did not shatter the barrier entirely, but cracked a large enough hole that Flame was able to squeeze himself through. He frowned as he did, careful not to let the phoenix see- his powers seemed diminished from what he remembered them to be. Perhaps that was but another side effect of the bond; or something had gotten shuffled in the summoning, the transition from thought to physical form. He’d have to test his bounds away from the phoenix’s watchful eye.

“Very good,” said Flame, floating up so Takeru could no longer look down at him. He added, because he’d give no reason for anyone to accuse him of lacking manners- “Thank you.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Takeru, shook his head and stuck his hands back in the pockets of his pants. “This is fine. Let’s go.”

And without further ado, they made their way down the aisle and slipped out the grand and heavy doors. Outside of the crumbling church was a thick sort of forest, one that Flame sensed was ancient as perhaps the world itself. Why someone had dared build a church to some transient god at its heart, Flame would never know- and why Takeru had chosen that as venue for a summoning, Flame found beyond comprehension. _Apollo-_ a false god of a fanciful mind, a crow held tight in his hand. About to be cast away into the skies, no doubt.

Flame wondered what sort of nonsense humans had tried to attribute to that as they crept from the church in the early hours before daybreak, Takeru with hood drawn tight around his face and bag slung over his shoulder, Flame floating dimly in the air behind his shoulder as Takeru wove them a path through the thick forest.

It was, in Flame’s humble opinion, taking a very long time.

“Why don’t you simply fly?” Flame asked, thinking that the skies would be much more convenient than the weaving, aimless slow roads. Takeru glared down at him. The flicker of shadows at his back were the answer.

A phoenix from whom the skies had been stolen. Something about that story was simply too pathetic to ignore. Flame readied his thoughts to say something, but just as he did, Takeru fell back fast behind the trunk of a tree, dragging Flame along with him despite his best protests.

“Servants of the Queen,” Takeru hissed out, pulling his gloves tight around his palms. Flame peeked out around the tree, squinting at the strange creatures approaching. Though they wore the skin of humans they were certainly anything but; about them Flame sensed only a creeping _wrongness._

He had encountered nothing like them in the realms of consciousness; a tactical retreat to observe and collect information would be their best course of action. But just as he lifted his voice to suggest this to Takeru-

“Don’t have a choice. Don’t let them see you,” Takeru bit out, spinning out from behind the tree, the magic burning in his veins leaping from his blood to spark ablaze in the air around him. He pushed back his bangs; the fire in his palm burned it all blue, same as the sigil glowing across his eye. And to the unaccustomed, certainly it was a spectacular sight. The power to create flames at will was something even an experienced mage could do with nothing less than significant will. But Flame, who burned at his core with such magic, could only recognize how weak the flickering fire in Takeru’s palm was.

If Takeru was out to get himself killed, then he could do it without Flame. He’d never had interest in the follies of the mortal realm; losing it again would be a mere trifle. Flame dashed up into the branches of the tree, hidden amongst its leaves to watch as the fight below played out. Takeru had the element of surprise, but the magic he held was little in comparison to the splendor a full phoenix should possess. Even compared to the creeping coils of magic housed within the rotting soldiers it was a pittance.

With overwhelming certainty did Flame understand- Takeru would not win. The stream of fire he sent spiraling towards the soldiers glanced off their armor, gleaming unsinged beneath the moon; they stalked forwards with swords drawn and dark incantations at their lips. But still Takeru did not retreat. Though in his eyes was the deep tinge of fear, though his breath came heavy even with such a light use of magic- he did not step back. He did not relent.

But he had to understand that he would die.

 _You fool,_ thought Flame, sending a burst of magic towards Takeru. It fluttered down in a glimmer of intent that burned pure white, and the magic in Takeru’s palms burst back into radiant life. With a shout did Takeru harness it- and with the sincerest of well-wishes did Flame slip back to safer ground. He knew not what would happen if those creatures managed to lay hand on him, but he was wise enough to understand it would be nothing good.

That said, he didn’t move far. Perhaps it was the bond, or perhaps some other limitation of the summoning that Flame had yet to tease out, but he felt a strange heaviness in his chest when he tried to slip too far out of sight from the magic bursting around the scorched forest path.

But it must have been the bond, he thought, because as the sounds of battle died and the ambiance of the forest night returned, Takeru curled back to him as if he knew Flame’s location exactly.

“You ran away,” Takeru accused, instead of any sort of greeting. All Flame’s pleased comments about Takeru returning unexpectedly alive died in an instant. The comment had been rather harsh; he made it known in the burst of magic he’d left given Takeru that he didn’t lack any _faith_ in his abilities. Only his power to execute them.

“I was simply prioritizing my own survival.”

“You?! You’re made of magic!” Takeru protested, “As long as you stayed hidden up there, what did you have to worry about?”

Flame crossed his arms and huffed. “You seem to misunderstand how demon magic works. Did you truly research before you summoned me, Takeru?”

“I researched enough,” Takeru said, pushing his glasses up his nose to try and hide the way he glanced away when answering. Not particularly effectively. Ah. So the books stacked around the church had simply been for show after all. Disappointing. If Takeru had been a bit more attuned to the boundary line and the magic that accompanied it, then that would have been ideal.

“You did well enough in that battle,” Flame said. Not that he had seen any of it. But Takeru was still here, alive and uninjured, and there seemed to be no pursuers, so Flame figured that things couldn’t have gone _too_ terribly.  

“Tha- No, wait, that’s not the point! I did fine, no thanks to you.”

“Then perhaps next time I’ll offer you my strategic advice,” Flame said in compromise, and Takeru groaned. He pushed a hand back through his bangs again, then shook his head and let them fall as he turned back towards the path.

“Whatever,” he said, “let’s go. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover tonight, right?

And with that, Takeru started off through the forest again, angling them away from where Takeru had fought the soldiers. And again, as before, he walked. It was such a dreadfully slow way of moving; Flame already found himself growing tired of it. “I’ll ask you again, Takeru. Why don’t you simply fly?”

“And I _told you,”_ Takeru said, wings flashing in wisps of blue flame behind him as he turned, burning hot in their anger. He didn’t finish his sentence.

But Flame ignored him, focused only on his own magic. He should still be able to do something this simple, even with his power limited so severely. The bond he felt with this phoenix was strong; attuning himself to Takeru’s latent magic was easy as the blink of an eye and a brief shift to the pulse of him to match Takeru’s beating heart.

“Flame? What are you-”

Without a word Flame flew up towards to his shoulder, looping up and over to press hands between his shoulder blades over the thin fabric of his cloak. Though in this form Takeru’s wings were hidden, they had not vanished- simply curled down into magic that Flame coaxed out gently from within him. Takeru squirmed away instinctive but Flame followed him forwards, seizing hold of the threads from his threadbare wings and weaving them out, supplementing generously with shapes of his power where there had once been long, graceful flights ready to burst into flame.

“Go,” Flame encouraged, tapping Takeru on the shoulder, “ _fly.”_

“How can you-?” Takeru began, but shook his head and took one step, then another, then another and another in time with the beat of his wings flooded through with Flame’s magic- and with a racing leap, together they were off the ground, skirting tight between the evergreen branches and bursting clumsy but fast into the open air. Takeru sucked in a deep breath as they skirted over the treetops, each brush of their burning wings coming dangerously close to setting them alight- but Flame wouldn’t allow this in such a sacred place, no matter how its true origins had been forgotten. Takeru flapped his wings a bit harder and they began to gain altitude, wingtips finally clearing the evergreen tips.

“How is it?” Flame asked, throwing his thoughts at Takeru’s mind with a beaming sort of pride that did little to hide how he knew exactly how much more than _fine_ the effects of his magic were. They couldn’t go any higher like this, but already Flame could see this sort of travel would cut them a much faster path towards the feathers gleaming across the continent.

“It’s good,” Takeru said, swerving towards the cluster of lights that meant a town on the far side of the forest. Towards where even in the darkness, Flame could see the promise of distant sand along the horizon. “It’s good.”

 

There were a few feathers on the way towards the glowing cluster of them out in what was rapidly giving way from forest and flatland to desert and a growing, dry heat in the air that Flame found himself quite partial to. Takeru seemed to enjoy it as well, though Flame found it hard to tell when he was stuck in that human-like countenance. The fact that he had to carry around so much _water,_ Flame thought, looking at the canteen on his back sloshing around so much of the vile stuff, only made it harder for him to comprehend his strange summoner. But their goal was clear; if Flame wanted to free himself of this wimpy little phoenix, then all he’d have to do was guide him true to his lost feathers.

They detoured here and there- the distance they had to track was long and it would serve them well to chase the few sparks lighting the path between them and the stash of them like the sun. And, as Flame told a protesting Takeru, he needed all his feathers if he ever wanted to fly on his own power again. It shut Takeru up quickly- because surely he knew that truth even better than Flame did. He was the one living it.

And so they went searching.

One of the feathers was stuck amongst a small community of fae, immortal creatures who took to the magic of the phoenix feather with blithe amusement at what a trinket its blessing was. Another was kept by a solitary old yokai, a man who had seen the turn of far too many centuries and was happy to relinquish the feather to its proper owner.

The next of them was stuck in a broken-down farmhouse, tucked beneath a floorboard in the annex, dust covering the old stains from someone obviously unsuccessful in getting to it in time.

Takeru frowned at that one for a long while- but they’d recovered it, Flame said, patting Takeru on the shoulder as magic leaped through their bond, wild and burning and subtly distressed. If the feather had been used, then Takeru would have it no longer. Not until the creature who’d saught it had returned to the elements This was the ideal ending, and the both of them knew it.

“Let’s keep going,” Flame encouraged, nudging Takeru gently forwards through their bond- and with tentative steps did Takeru proceed.

 

The desert, Flame soon found, was closest to his preferred sort of world. He liked fire and heat, the sheer destructive and creative force of magma that boiled up from under the earth’s surface- it was power and it was death and it was the epitome of it all. But the dry heat of the desert, the brisk bite of it in the evening beneath the countless stars... Flame found it an acceptable substitute in this disappointingly solid land.

Against the afternoon sun Takeru squinted, lifting a hand to shield his eyes and checking the wavering horizon. Flame floated up from his shoulder to stare out with him, though his sights were far different. A bright, pulsing light dwelled strong in the distance- more brilliant than any of the pinpricks that they’d encountered so far. However many feathers were gathered near the cliffs still small with the distance, it was more than Flame had dared to hope.

Yet with each step closer, each flap of their wings did it become apparent that the fates had been kind in this quest- and yet, Flame thought as they touched down, separating himself from Takeru’s wings to look up at the final barrier to the cave that was their destination, so unbearably cruel.

“It’s a waterfall.”

Flame thought that Takeru’s observation was rather dry, given the deathtrap that awaited them. They’d brought no shield, couldn’t take so much as a palm leaf to try and protect themselves from the water that could extinguish them.

A waterfall in the middle of the desert.

How unnerving. Something about this place was clearly wrong; they’d benefit from a bit of scouting around. Perhaps there was another entrance at the top of the cliffs- or perhaps the feathers weren’t beyond the waterfall at all, but on the other side of whatever was over this drastic shift in elevation.

“Takeru, I believe we should-”

“Here goes nothing,” Takeru said, and took a running leap at the rushing water. He lifted his arms and his pack above his head and let out a soft yell as the cold water splashed him- and then, miraculously without incident, he was through. He shook off his hair- droplets flying, then looked back at Flame, hovering on the other side of the waterfall with arms crossed and a scathing glare.

“If I can go through it, then so can you,” Takeru said, looking ready to seize Flame and drag him through the waters with his own two hands. Flame hovered backwards a bit, so that Takeru wouldn’t be able to drag him through without soaking himself again.

“Absolutely no-”

Takeru lunged; Flame dashed upwards. Takeru twisted, open hand grasping at Flame’s body but fingertips just brushing at his feet before gravity took care of the rest. Takeru crashed down into the pool below with a shout and a splash that nearly brushed Flame, much to his displeasure. He scoffed- Takeru had gotten what he deserved- and prepared a rather lengthy scolding. But the moment for Flame to lord his victory over Takeru was taking quite a long time. A worryingly long time.

Flame floated down towards the water’s surface, watching as it went nearly still. Surely Takeru hadn’t hit the water _that_ hard. In his human body he would have no need to worry about his sigil being extinguished, but that didn’t mean he’d ever had reason to learn to _swim._ No phoenix in their right mind would head so close to water, and it was possible that Takeru had never learned that lesson, stranded from his kind as he was. Flame dared sweep down close to the water, bending down to kneel over it and peering down into the depths, disturbed by the white foam of the waterfall behind him but forcing himself to ignore it. What would he do if Takeru was dying? In this sort of form he could do nothing to pull him from the water. If he’d fallen unconscious, if he couldn’t move of his own power-

Flame reached for their bond, searching for bubbles of air from Takeru’s lungs that might have been floating to the surface as a mark of his life and preparing himself to do something foolish- but suddenly a hand shot up from the depths with a splash. Flame startled, reeling backwards, but he was just a moment too late to avoid capture, no matter how he tried to squirm out of that grip.

Another splash followed, a head breaking water. Flame stared at his captor, utterly unimpressed.

“Got you,” Takeru said with a vicious grin, left eye still squeezed tightly shut as water ran rivulets down his face.

The places where Takeru’s hand wrapped around his body were almost unbearably hot; steam rose from between his fingers as the water made contact with Flame. He pushed down on Takeru’s fingers, trying to pry them off to no avail. “I concede. Now please let me go.”

“Will you go through the waterfall?” Takeru asked, using his free hand to adjust his skewed glasses- though they couldn’t have been doing him any good, the way droplets clung to them.

“I am a demon of my word,” Flame replied, though that was a deal they had never made. Takeru noticed too, if the way he shook his head was any indication, but he said nothing. He did, however, release Flame so he could float a safe distance away from the deep water. Takeru swam a bit, then ducked through the curtain of water, back to the entrance of the cave. It seemed that he was checking something; not a moment later did he call out again.

“Come here,” Takeru said, poking his foolish head through the water yet again to return to the water’s edge where Flame was waiting. In the shallows Takeru opened the fold of his jacket, wiping his hand on the grassy edge before holding it out to Flame. Immediately did he see what Takeru was trying to do- hide him away inside where the water wouldn’t quite reach.

Flame crossed his arms. “I am an upstanding demon. I won’t have you treating me like a common animal.”

Takeru rolled his eyes- or rather, eye, given he was still holding his left pinched closed. A fool, but at least he had some sort of sense. “I’m not gonna give some common animal the VIP treatment, here. I’m doing this for you, Flame.”

There was very little that he could say to that.

“If I don’t like it, I’ll leave. You can’t command me to go through the water,” Flame warned, and Takeru rolled his eyes.

“Sure, sure,” Takeru said, waving him forward to rest atop his palm, “Come on.”

Flame floated into his upturned palm and allowed Takeru to settle him between his wet shirt and jacket- though at their contact with Flame, both of them began to dry to a much more comfortable level. Takeru just held him that way a moment, sheltering and kind, then- “How is it?”

Warm. Safe. Quite pleasant, like resting in the low heat of campfire embers. If this was how small animals felt when they were held, then Flame, perhaps, could understand.

“Acceptable,” Flame said, and Takeru grinned.

And so they passed through the waterfall, skirting through the shallows, Flame pressed close to Takeru’s chest and sheltered from the curtain of water by the jacket and Takeru’s arms. Flame nudged as close as he could to Takeru as a bit of condensation bled through the admittedly thin fabric of Takeru’s jacket- he had his dignity, and no demon with pride would so much as touch an element that opposed them. He didn’t quite keep track of how long he stayed that way, trying to avoid that dark patch of cloth, but apparently it was quite a while, as Takeru’s voice eventually broke into his thoughts- “Hey Flame? We’re through.”

“Yes,” Flame said, staring up at Takeru, as he opened his jacket again, “of course. But why are you so unafraid of water?” Flame had to ask- surely there was a reason a phoenix would cast away such basic self-preservation. He simply had to know how foolish it was so he could adjust his expectations accordingly.

“Ah, see,” Takeru said, stepping out from the water and retrieving his rucksack from where he’d left it at the water’s edge the first time, “My best friend back home is Kiku. She’s a daughter of the Ryujin.”

“The guardian of the seas?” Flame asked. Even amongst the demonic realms so rarely were the names of the old gods spoken. Most thought them dead. But for a daughter of the sea god to still live… Which only brought Flame to another question. “If she’s dragonborn, then why does she inhabit the Kingdom above the Clouds?”

Takeru grinned. The look on his face was quite nostalgic, eyes seeing a time and place far from this desert oasis. “She takes after her mother. A harpy, with these beautiful white wings. She spends a lot of time down by the ocean. We used to go together, actually, and race across the bay.”

“And so you’re unafraid of water.”

Takeru nodded, still that goofily nostalgic expression remained on his face. The Kingdom Above the Clouds- truly was it beginning to peak Flame’s interest. Takeru spoke of Kiku for a while longer, of a childhood spent playing games beside the water, of days that should have been ancient and yet seemed spoken with such clarity. But the stories didn’t last forever.

“So, are you getting out of my jacket any time soon, or..?” Takeru began, glancing down at him. Flame caught a glimpse of himself in Takeru’s dried glasses as they flashed in the low light. He looked quite comfortable. Content, even.

And really, he was. “This is much more convenient than flying.”

Takeru sighed and shook his head but didn’t protest. “Ah, whatever. Don’t accidentally set my clothes on fire. I can’t afford more.”

“I would _never,”_ Flame said, appalled by Takeru’s apparent lack of trust in his self-control, but Takeru was no longer listening- instead his gaze was set burning straight ahead, into the very depths of the damp cave. And Flame, instead of demanding Takeru acknowledge his fair protests against his character, quieted down. Because facing down the gave lowly glimmering with moss and jeweled light, Takeru seemed so deathly determined. And, for perhaps the first time, Flame thought he could believe him the noble phoenix his brand marked him as.

 

They’d descended deep into the depths of the cave. No longer did the desert heat batter at them so familiar- when Takeru breathed outwards, Flame fancied that he could see the edges of his breath puffing white a moment before vanishing in the sickly illumination. Takeru shivered; for a moment Flame couldn’t figure out why- but they hadn’t been walking that long. His clothes were likely still wet, and his body still only human. It wouldn’t have been unreasonable for even a phoenix to succumb to a bit of chill at the very bottom of the slope.

The room they found themselves in was different than the rest of the cave- in the sense that it was, of course, a room and not simply a cave. Granted, one whose doors had clearly once been blown from their hinges in the past. Large tables with benches attached took up much of the space, shelves stacked with books and what had once been scrolls or scattered paper documents about, though they were all written in a language Flame had no knowledge of. Something ancient, perhaps. Or only simple code. Either way, he had little interest. As long as they could find the feathers, Flame saw no reason to involve himself further.

“I’m gonna, um,” Takeru said, turning his gaze away from Flame in his jacket towards something or other that had caught his eye, “I’m gonna sit down for a little bit. You can look around if you want.”

“Very well.”

Flame pushed himself out of Takeru’s jacket to float about the strange facility for a bit, taking in the places that Takeru couldn’t as he sank down against the wall beside the entrance, presumably searching for something on the shelves.

He didn’t wander far, and not for long. This place was wrong. It reeked of dark magic that even Flame dared not touch. It threatened in on him and curled tight into his chest, sending strange, clenching pains through him- something not of the body, but of his very soul. There were several rooms that branched off the main one, each sealed with runes ancient as the sun itself. He dared not venture into them. The larger the distance between him and Takeru, the uneasier he grew. He could sense a fair share of feathers here somewhere, but it was hardly worth pressing the limits of his summoning now. He returned.

Takeru hadn’t moved for quite a while. Flame placed a hand on his chest and tapped, slightly, drawing Takeru’s attention away from the crumbling scenery and back towards him. “Is there something wrong, Takeru?”

“I just don’t like this place,” Takeru said, “that’s all.”

Flame had yet to touch the mortal realm since his birth a century ago. The whims of mortal politics were hardly of interest. But he’d have to be blind and senseless both not to understand what exactly this place had done to Takeru.

Flame narrowed down his senses, searching for the root of their bond. The connection between them was never used with force, no matter what Takeru had threatened when they’d first met. It beat as a heart, burned as a bonfire, curled around Flame not as a collar but as a comfort, an assurance that he was not alone. And it was that he sought to convey to Takeru more than anything else. He thought on his words a moment, then took Takeru’s thumb between his hands and said, “You are strong, Takeru.”

“Huh? What’s all this about?” Takeru laughed uneasily, his best attempt at normalcy. It was paper-thin, fragile as the old glass surrounding them. Flame crashed through it in an instant.

“Exactly as I’ve said. I acknowledge your strength, Takeru. And I believe that you’re strong enough to find your feathers in this accursed tomb. No matter what sort of past might have befallen you. No matter how weak you may have thought yourself back in that chapel-”

“Hey, that was you that called _me-”_

“- you are brilliant, Takeru. Your resolve is unparalleled. Your past has not bound you. The only bond you have is to me, and I will not not chain you to your past. I’ll show you a path to your future.”

And yet still Takeru’s tone was morose. “I pulled you here. You didn’t have a choice.”

“But I did,” said Flame, and finally did Takeru lift his gaze to meet Flame’s. He repeated, soft and certain, “I did, Takeru. When I was in the darkness there came a light. It was weak. Just a _flicker,_ Takeru. The most feeble gleam of a call like a star on the verge of blinking out. I did not have to reach out and take it.”

“But you did.”

“But I did.”

And finally, finally, did Takeru smile at him. It was not free, or wild, or assured, or any of the other things that Flame had grown to acknowledge so freely about Takeru. But it was so immeasurably grateful that for a brief moment, Flame could feel nothing but humbled. “Thank you, Flame.”

“There is no need for thanks. It’s only the truth.”

Flame could not, of course, pull Takeru to his feet with sheer strength alone. But as he closed his hands tight around Takeru’s index finger and tugged gently, leading Takeru to rise- surely, then, what he sensed was power of a different kind. He took a long breath, closed his eyes and opened them again. And though that fear had not dissipated- though that old pain still remained- it was lesser, now, overtaken by the resolve Flame much preferred. After all- it suited him so.

“Can you take me to the feathers?” Takeru asked, and Flame nodded. Of course. For Takeru? Always.

When Flame opened his senses the light of them was blinding, but not in its harshness. Flame felt no need to squint against their warmth as he wove Takeru through the facility, through its toppled benches and broken desks and shuttered doors. The light was at the deepest section of the facility; though Takeru’s steps were still slightly off-kilter, he proceeded evenly with Flame, not looking over his shoulder once.

No need to look back. Their future was only before them.

In the very depths of the cave were there six doors; even Takeru seemed to know without Flame’s guidance that that their destination was beneath the one marked with the old rune of _four._ Flame approached it with caution. Though he could sense no traps left remaining in this once-ancient place, a set of phoenix feathers this large was a boon. He could not trust that there wasn’t something unsavory left behind as a safety.

But the air around them remained stagnant, without a trace of magic save the feathers dormant inside. The door was ajar. Flame slipped aside, and ushered Takeru inside with as soft a gaze of encouragement he could muster. Before pushing it open Takeru paused, took a deep breath- and then set his palm against the cold steel of the door and pushed it with all his strength. It swung open with a heavy, rusty creak. And there, hidden amongst the white light spilling out from inside-

“Is this real?” Takeru asked softly, pausing on the threshold. “I don’t have to fight for these?”

“You’ve already fought for them. You’ve more than proved your worth. Now go on. Take them.” Flame nudged Takeru forth softly, watched as his tentative steps turned bold before collapsing to his knees before the pile of them. He reached out hesitantly, fingertips trembling to brush against the feathers pulsing with gentle blue light like the steady beat of their bond. At his touch the wispy feathers glowed with a sweet familiarity- then sparked into an inferno that caught Takeru up at its heart, dancing up around his arms and flitting through his hair, burning through the sigil in his eye and gathering in the shape of wings at his back. The heat of them was overwhelming; surely if a mortal had been present they’d have burned their delicate flesh. But to them with hearts of flame did this warmth finally feel like home. As the last licks of magic caught burning against the walls, Takeru rose to his feet and turned slow, basking in the firelight Flame caught reflected off his glasses- that and the image of Flame himself, caught spellbound by the moment disbelief turned to joy.

 

“Takeru.”

Takeru hummed, rolling onto his side to squint over at Flame, backlit by the dying embers. For a moment Flame thought about moving, but then the blue sigil of his phoenix flame broke through the dark, warm in the cold of the desert night.

“I have a question.”

“Well, ask it then,” Takeru said, the dull edges of sleep still clouding his words. Flame glanced briefly to the sky, to the stars that dappled their way out to the horizon like a map of the heavens, the guideposts of mortals and the playthings of those who dwelled above the clouds.

“What is your home like?

Takeru hummed again. “Mmm. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to fly that high. Things have probably changed. Even in the slow little place where I lived.”

“That doesn’t matter. As a demon I haunt the realms of consciousness. I’d rather like to know what the places I cannot go are like.” Though even as Flame said it, he considered- Takeru had not set an end to their partnership. Flame had always believed it to be when they’d collected the last of Takeru’s feathers, but perhaps Takeru had something else in mind. Perhaps, if he were to fly up to the Kingdom Above the Clouds, wings full and birthright restored, then he might see fit to take Flame with him. Perhaps Takeru would introduce him kindly to the family he missed so dearly. _Here he is,_ he’d say, _the demon who found me my feathers. My partner._

Takeru bit his lip, then began, words slow and considered carefully, “The city is beautiful. I don’t remember a lot of it, but that’s where all the angels live. The skies are full of feathers, and at night you can trace the stars to fly out between them… Then there’s where my grandparents live. Where I lived with them. It’s out on the very far edge of the clouds, where the ocean domains meet the clouds. The horizon line. It’s beautiful out there. The water is close enough to reach down and dip your talons in if you reach over the edge. Kiku and I would go play there. The sunlight is strong, and you can always feel the heat of it or the calm moonlight on your back.”

“That sounds very familiar,” Flame said. The thought of it kindled something mellow in him- nostalgic and kind, unlike the cold of this desert night were Flame to move from their campfire. “Your family sound like upstanding birds. I can see where your values come from.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Surely you don’t mean to tell me you learned that determination all on your own?”

Takeru snorted at him, but it wasn’t offended. “Aaaand, that’s enough outta you for the day. Good night, Flame.”

“Good night, partner.”

Flame watched as Takeru drifted off to sleep, clearly more affected by the events of the day than he’d pretended to be. And as he did- as Takeru’s breathing evened out and as his troubled expression gave way to something peaceful- Flame slowly edged away from the fire pit, towards Takeru curled up beneath his ratty old blanket. There was no reason for him to. He thrived on warmth and the burn of life that was the campfire, and even the body heat of a phoenix was nothing that could compare- at least not in this form. But for some reason, out in this open desert beneath the wide open sky, Flame couldn’t help but feel that the distance between them was far too great. He floated over slowly, watching the gentle rise and fall of Takeru’s chest, and tucked himself into the crook of his arm. And, just as Flame had thought, the warmth of him was nothing compared to the blaze of the campfire in the chill desert beneath the waning moon- but in its own way, it was enough.

 

The rest of the feathers came one by one, falling into their hands as they emerged from the desert and wove their way back through the edges of society. They found them in buried chests, pinched them from the homes of nobles and requested them back kindly from the hands of the down-on-their-luck. They crawled through the back entrances of labs and flew high above the trading routes from town to town, took on odd jobs and honed their abilities in small skirmishes with those strange soldiers of the Queen’s.

Takeru was growing stronger by the day, and Flame felt a blossoming pride at the sight of Takeru’s wings. They were still patchy, still unable to burst to flames in the way of a proper phoenix, but slowly were they regaining their sheen, even if only in shadow. It was difficult to say how he could tell- he simply could, information carried over through their bond that had only grown stronger over the course of their travels. Every time he supplemented Takeru’s wings, he had to stretch his magic less and less for them to take flight.

Today their destination was a town at the base of the mountains, a long range of them that local legend said reached up high into the heavens themselves. Flame was unsure as to whether this was above or below the Kingdom Above the Clouds, and Takeru could only shrug in response as they walked down the gravel street lined with storefronts and the telltale glimmer of a phoenix feather up ahead. And certainly, in the corner of the shop window, drawn in extravagant script across a board-

_Resurrection Charm, inquiries inside._

Flame glared at the derogatory term. Certainly a phoenix feather could save a mortal from death; certainly did the aspiring occultists who dreamed themselves necromancers use them willy-nilly as ingredients for their spells. All questions of their morality aside, it was already a questionable process. But to reduce the very life of a phoenix to a mere charm for mortal use was of utmost disrespect to the phoenix who had bequeathed it.

“Hey, Flame,” Takeru said, low under his breath to Flame curled up in the folds of his scarf, “how do you feel about breaking and entering?”

Flame glanced up at the display, catching the determined glint in Takeru’s eyes in the glass reflection. “Stealing is illegal, Takeru. As is everything that accompanies it.”

“Okay,” Takeru said, “let me rephrase that. How do you feel about breaking some laws and getting kicked out of town?”

Flame folded his arms and cleared his throat entirely unnecessarily, though he rather liked the sound. It made him sound quite stern when he gave the obvious answer- “Mortal laws have no bearing on a demon. I propose that we obtain your feather in the most direct way possible.”

Takeru grinned at him, and the sight was so terribly fond. “I knew there was a reason I kept you around.”

“Yes. You’d be utterly helpless at finding your feathers without me.”

“You know, you…” Takeru said as he pushed open the door to the shop, a mischievous smile on his face even as he scanned the cluttered interior of the magic shop for the feather.

“Then do try finding this one without me,” said Flame, glancing a moment towards the gleam of light radiating longing through the shop, pulsing pleasant at the presence of its owner. But Takeru only huffed and gently lifted a hand to nudge at his scarf, shuffling Flame around slightly.

“I have _eyes,”_ he insisted, and Flame watched as his gaze shifted from the huffing Flame to the cage hanging on a grand shelf behind the shopkeep’s counter- staffed by a rather gruff looking man that Flame would describe rather kindly as having crawled out of a back alley dump after several unsuccessful attempts at reviving half-rotted rats dead by weeks-old poison. But only kindly, of course.

“What is your plan?” Flame murmured as Takeru approached, dulling his presence as Takeru’s rose, ready to play their trump card the moment it became necessary.

But as Takeru approached the man, as their magics flared, Takeru only grinned and said, glancing down at Flame even though his gaze would be much better suited towards the man they’d just made an enemy of- “Do I really need one?”

And feather in hand, together they ran.

They ran and they ran, and weaved through the old trails that led up the side of the mountain until the humans had lost their will to chase them up into the ruins of what Flame guessed must have once been some sort of old mining site. But the detour had done them well. The second feather he could feel in the core of his soul had only drawn closer, barely in his sights.

“It’s on this mountain.”

“Yeah, but _where?”_ Takeru said, craning his neck upwards as if he could see the tip from the base- like he was looking up towards the top of a tower rather than the known world’s tallest mountain.

“High,” Flame said in response. High enough that it was only a pinprick of light, a tiny little calling up in the misty clouds that surrounded the mountain’s peak.

“I’m getting a really bad feeling about this,” Takeru said without a trace of reluctance. Slowly, with determination in his eyes and Flame tucked into the pocket of his cloak- he began to walk.

 

“I can’t believe someone left one of my feathers all the way up here. Was it out of spite? I think it was spite.”

“No mortal man would survive the climb,” Flame replied, not quite an agreement- but certainly he imagined it was spite. That, or a desire to cash in on the supplies of dead adventurers chasing their dooms. But they were closing in on the summit. All they had to do was climb a little higher, and then they’d be on heaven’s doorstep. Perhaps Takeru would even be able to see home.

“You can do it, Takeru,” Flame said, rising up out of the pocket to sit on Takeru’s shoulder instead, “I believe in you.”

“Well, at least someone does,” Takeru replied, sights still set straight ahead- but through the bond Flame could feel only gratitude. The air had grown bitterly cold, but nestled in Takeru’s scarf Flame hardly felt a chill. Perhaps it was Takeru himself, Flame thought- his flame of life burning strong enough to support both their twin souls by now. If he were to reach for their bond, then surely that was what it would affirm. And, sometime while Flame was lost in his thoughts-

“Here,” said Takeru, scrambling up across the summit to the feather staked down by a tattered flag to the top, “it’s here.”

The metal of the pole was frozen, but in Takeru’s warm hands did it lift smoothly from the ground. Before the feather could drift away on the frigid wind Flame swept out from the comfort of Takeru’s scarf to snatch it by the calamus. A spark ran through him as he did, something that shook him to the core of his very being- and only then did Flame realize that he’d never touched one of Takeru’s feathers directly before.

It was an intimate thing, a delicate mark of trust that Flame had gone and seized without thinking. But as he floated up to Takeru, shoving the flagpole back into the ground, there was no hint of anger. As Flame relinquished it finally, all Flame could sense from the soft brush of his fingers was a gentle but intense gratitude. He left his index finger behind, curling the rest around the feather to crush it, letting it danced back into the fabric of his soul. Flame seized careful hold, feeling as the shards sank deep into Takeru’s skin, folding back into his being to soothe the cracks of his golden soul. Only once the last of the feather had returned to its rightful place did they finally part. If he’d ever needed breath, if he’d ever had a pulse, Flame thought, then surely in those long moments would both of them have stopped.

“We’re on top of the world,” Takeru said, his breath coming out in white puffs of steam. At his feet the snow melted soft in the shape of his boots, the thin air shifted at the brush of his wings stretching out majestic behind him. With the sunrise setting the horizon aflame behind him, they looked more as sparks of light than shadow.

 _Ah,_ thought Flame. That was the glory of a phoenix. That was what he’d been waiting in such anticipation for Takeru to regain. What swelled in him then was a pride he hadn’t known he’d possessed- or rather, a deep appreciation he’d only finally admitted to. A desire to protect, to show off, to shout from this zenith of the world that Homura Takeru was the only creature in this world that Flame could fathom feeling this for.

“I feel like I could fly,” Takeru said, and spread his arms wide, as if to embrace the sky. In his voice was desire, was rashness, was every bit of longing that in his strength he tried not to show.

“Then do it,” Flame said, the words leaping from him proud before he could stop them.

“Huh?” Takeru turned to him, startled. The sigil in his eye burned bright blue with proximity to the heavens- to home.

“Then do it,” Flame repeated, “try. On your own power.”

“But-”

“If you can’t do that, can you truly call yourself a phoenix?”

“Hey…”

“And besides,” Flame added, speaking over the fears Takeru wouldn’t admit to having, “I will be there to catch you when you fall.”

Takeru’s expression immediately softened. “Flame…” Takeru stopped. His relieved expression pinched back up. “Hey, did you say _when-”_

“Go, Takeru,” Flame said, and nudged him on the shoulder. Takeru took one step forwards, and then another, and another and another and another until he’d broken into a sprint, launching himself off the mountaintop plateau with a wild shout of freedom.

The flames engulfed him as his wings unfurled- burning through his hair, his eyes, setting the frayed tips of his scarf alight as it danced in the wind behind him- and with a great flap of his wings, Takeru took to the air.

The fire danced around him a whirlwind as he twirled, catching an updraft, and for the briefest of moments Flame thought he could see Takeru as he was meant to be- the long lines of him graceful and plumed, talons betraying his hidden strength beneath his beauty.

And then the draft was gone, and Takeru’s wings fizzled back into wisps of smoke and intent, sending him headfirst towards the distant ground. He crashed down through the misty clouds, Flame chasing close behind to land in his upturned palms, watching as Takeru laughed.

“Flame!” he yelled, over the rush of the wind. Flame didn’t reply, only tilted his head in silent invitation. But Takeru only said again, through that brilliant, unstoppable laughter- “Flame!”

He didn’t quite understand what Takeru meant, but his joy seeped through every part of him, racing through their bond and coming to dwell kindly in Flame, too. “Takeru!”

His reward was another peal of laughter, echoing amongst the mountaintops and echoing down to the wide world below. “Come on!”

And, just before they crashed down to the mountainside below, Flame settled into place amongst Takeru’s feathers, shooting them back up to the skies. Together, the world spread out before them- they soared.

 

Takeru’s wings were almost whole again, just a single feather missing from its rightful place. It was a small hole for Flame’s power to fill, and so they found themselves untroubled when they chose to fly rather than walk over the long countryside. To Flame, it felt much more natural than how he’d been stretching his soul to compensate before. Yet, despite their best efforts- the last could not be found. Flame sensed every one of them they’d already collected a spark, a bit of burning soul placed on Takeru’s wings, the same energy flowing through their bond into him, too. But the last was nowhere in his senses.

It was troublesome.

No matter where they went- no matter what land of fallen angels and demons and scorched rubble they passed though, dragging their fingertips through the ashes- the final feather eluded them still.

Flame flit and fret and widened his senses with all of the power he possessed, welling up in him greater than he’d known dwelled within him at each attempt- only to turn up nothing. But all Flame’s worries were met with Takeru’s indifference.

And this time, like always, Takeru shrugged. “Someone probably used it, or something, which means it’ll grow back eventually. I don’t need all of them back. Now that I have the rest of them, that last one isn’t so important.”

“Nonsense,” Flame replied, folding his arms and staring down at Takeru rather cross, “There’s no reason to stop now. I can sense it quite clearly.”

“No, Flame, really, it’s-”

“We’ll go looking. Don’t be so spineless, Takeru! Not when the end is in sight!” A pause, then- “You’re hardly so cowardly a phoenix. Rather, you’re quite possibly the bravest summoner I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.”

“Do I want to ask how many summoners you’ve met?” Takeru asked, with the kind of tone that meant he’d already resigned himself to the answer.

Flame shook his head. He’d only been alive about a century or so, after all. It was natural that the answer was only _one._

Takeru sighed, flashing him a resigned look. “Fine. We’ll go looking. But I don’t know if there’s anywhere in this country that we haven’t already gone.”

“There must be,” Flame insisted, “so we’ll go looking. I won’t allow you to give up on this, Takeru.”

And look they did.

They searched and they scavenged and they travelled as far as they could until there was only one place in the country they hadn’t yet touched that Flame could think to search.

The Palace of the Queen. A beautiful, bold woman who wielded poisons as adept as most _Others_ wielded magic or humans a blade. She had not been born a Princess. Her Palace was cold and sleek to match, a dark-walled exterior betrayed only by a garden that had once been beautiful now falling slow into ruin as the life that had once flourished under a careful hand collapsed under its own weight.

Flame and Takeru gazed upon it from the top of the valley, perched atop a tree and eyes burning with proximity to the enchantment the Queen had cast upon it.

“No,” said Takeru, “no. My last feather isn’t in there, Flame. I can tell you that for a fact.”

“She’s collected the trinkets of hundreds of magical entities over the years,” Flame replied, crossing his arms and all but daring Takeru to disagree, “Who’s to say that yours isn’t hidden somewhere amongst them? An unused phoenix feather is a treasure worthy of royalty. It is also an effective measure against assassination. There is a chance she has it protected.”

“Something that surpasses your senses?” Takeru asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Flame swallowed down his pride, and, after a long second, nodded. Takeru let out a long sigh. “I really think we don’t have to do this, Flame.”

“There is a _chance,_ Takeru. She may have a feather.”

And that was worth the risk. Even if they were caught, even if Flame’s plan fell to pieces against the Queen and her forces, he would make sure Takeru escaped. Even if the price happened to be his magic- his life.

“If we go in there, the Queen’s going to have a whole lot of feathers,” Takeru grumbled, but turned his sights towards the palace all the same. It was not a simple matter to infiltrate, but nor were such mortals prepared for the wiles of a demon and the wings of a phoenix. So oft where the eyes of the guards turned out towards the rest of the valley that they forgot to look up at the hills and the creatures flying amongst them. They snuck in through a turret window, slipping quick through doors and fluttering up to rest atop chandeliers at the mere sight of motion- and slowly, though they could only guess at the magic that resonated in their senses, they found their way to the grand doors of the treasure room.

It was not open, but their journey had more than taught them the means necessary to pick a lock- both in the physical and magical sense. Before their combined technique the locks crumbled, and soundless did the doors swing open.

As Flame had suspected, inside were the treasures of the centuries, lined up in beautiful chaos. Despite himself, Flame couldn’t help but be impressed. Not only were there jewels and scepters and orders of power, but delicate spells caught woven tight into the fabrics of cloaks and the last wills of witches and nymphs trapped in the chests that contained their hearts. Flame wandered through them all, searching for any sign of the response he associated with feathers, picking up speed with each area of the grand room they covered with no sight of it.

It had to be here. Takeru’s last feather _had_ to be here, or else-

Flame turned the corner, towards an ancient mirror placed delicately against a corner wall. The mirror was no normal trinket, nor was it any simple vanity, placed deep in the treasure hall just from simple disuse. Flame could sense the magic that radiated off it, some sort of ancient spell whose purpose he couldn’t understand so simply.

In its reflection Takeru burned bright blue, wings searing out behind him and every bit the full phoenix that Flame had longed to see. Despite the delicate curl of his thin limbs, or the weak burn of his wings in the anxiety of their infiltration, Flame thought him so very, effortlessly strong. But, as his eyes trailed down in the mirror’s reflection-

“What is this?” Flame asked, though he could see quite clearly. His own body, hazy at its very edges. His eyes, gone faint and slim, his hands and legs vanished down entirely to the smooth lines of his body. He knew this shape. He knew it so clearly-

“That’s you,” Takeru said, slow and unlike himself, usually so bounding with energy. “The ritual I did back then, in the church. That wasn’t meant to summon a demon. It was supposed to summon-“

“A feather,” Flame finished, and in the mirror his form dissolved down from humanoid demon to sleek red feather. He floated forwards; when he touched his own reflection it was with resolve. In the mirror, the phoenix watched him with dark, complicated eyes. _Ah-_ but in Flame’s, though he could no longer see them to confirm, he knew no such hesitation was left.

He turned back to Takeru with luster.

“Takeru,” Flame said, voice so shamelessly satisfied that Takeru very nearly took a step back as he floated forwards to rest in upturned palms, “Takeru. The journey is finally at its end. I can give you what you’ve been seeking for so many years. I’m proud to have been the partner of a creature as unwavering as you. I truly-”

But to Flame’s heartfelt declaration, Takeru interjected a single, harsh- “No.”

“What? Takeru, I think you misunderstand. I’m your final feather. This is the end of the journey. The glorious quest that you’ve spent your life changing… The end is here, Takeru.”

Takeru rolled his eyes. “No, I think you’re the one who’s not getting it.”

Flame crossed his arms indignant. After he’d gone and spilled his heart, What right did Takeru have to reject him so coldly? Well, no, that wasn’t really right. His gaze on Flame was still impossibly fond, burning with that blue brand of a phoenix’s soul. “And what am I ‘not getting’ exactly?”

“I told you,” Takeru said, patting Flame atop the head with a fingertip, “it’s not so important.”

“It’s as important as life itself, Takeru,” Flame scolded. “Without all your feathers, you can’t return home.”

Takeru shrugged. “So? I haven’t been back there in over a century. I’m sure everyone is doing fine. And if they miss me, they can come and visit. It’s not like it’s hard for a full phoenix to cross the boundary line.”

“But you still won’t be able to return home. So long as I exist, you will never return to the Kingdom Above the Clouds.” Flame had never been there, not himself- or rather, not _as_ himself. But from Takeru’s words it had been a paradise. A utopia for the winged, the transient, the reincarnations. The place where he belonged. And he could never deprive Takeru of that.

Yet Takeru met his words so flippantly. “So? I’d rather have you around than go home. Understand, partner?”

“Takeru…” But that wasn’t it. In the end, if Takeru chose to make a new home beneath the clouds, then Flame would wish him his happiness. But. “You won’t be able to fly, either. I’ll have stolen the skies from you.”

“What the hell are you saying?” Takeru said, flicking him gently as he could atop the head. Flame ducked, and when he looked back up, Takeru was smiling. “As long as you’re here I _can_ fly. You showed me how.”

“But... Well, I certainly _did,_ but-”

“Flame,” Takeru said, shaking his head and patting him gentle atop the head, “stay with me. As long as you’re here with me, I can fly. Even higher than I could on my own.”  
And when Takeru looked down at him then- with the hint of flame burning blue in his eyes, the spark of gold that threaded his soul running through them tender as the affection there- all of Flame’s protests crumbled. Takeru wanted him to stay. More than the heavens, more than home, more than the end of the quest he’d spent so long chasing. Takeru wanted _him._

 _(Ah,_ thought Flame, caught up in the understanding of what all of this had meant, in the emotion that overcame him from both ends of their bond, _ah. I truly…_ )

“Takeru, I-”

But before he could finish his sentence, from outside the door came the sound of commotion. Someone had noticed their presence- and that someone would not let them leave alive.

“What do we do?” Flame asked, and Takeru glanced back through the treasure room, listening to the sounds of soldiers approaching from outside. The treasure room had no windows, no other exits- but a square of light and shadow danced at their feet, and their gazes darted to the thin skylight overhead. The glass was doubtless thick, but it was their only chance- and never had they feared. Not when they were together again.

“Fly,” Takeru said, wings unfurling crimson behind him- and as Flame slipped back sort to the place he belonged, a part of Takeru’s magic but now something so much more- they did. With arms bared to burn them through the glass, with flames trailing from them as they scorched the blazing skies above them, with the freedom of a lifetime ahead of them- they left the city a comet in the sunset, two souls whole as one.

 

They would have to leave the area eventually- the Queen would not settle for her palace’s security to have been violated so easily- but in the end, they had stolen nothing, and the only wound was upon her pride. But for now they sat perched in the trees outside the city grounds, up over the cliff and watching as the sun set around them like a beacon for the moon. Flame could only imagine the chaos down below; certainly things would only become all the more lively for it.

“What will you do now?”

Takeru shrugged. “I dunno. I spent so long planning for this, I didn’t really think about what we were going to do afterwards.”

The contentment that swelled in him with the mention of _we_ was unabashed and brilliant. Flame urged him on with a nod, knowing that Takeru was only deferring for Flame’s sake.

“We’ve got the rest of the world to explore,” Takeru continued slowly, “And we still don’t know how _you_ exactly gained consciousness. And well. None of the other feathers did. So…”

Flame nodded. “Indeed, I have no knowledge of how I was born, or for what purpose. Though it may have been to guide you.”

Takeru groaned, shielding his face with a hand against the setting hand- though that certainly wasn’t what cast the red tinting his cheeks. Flame patted his thumb. Takeru groaned again, but didn’t pull away. The bond- no result of any summoning, but the connection that had always existed between them as phoenix and feather- pulsed with pure adoration.

“So that’s what we go search for next?” Takeru said, as much an invitation as anything. Flame nodded, and Takeru continued- “And who knows? We might find some others who need heroes on the way. Sound good, partner?”

Flame reached out, set his hands upon Takeru’s wrist like a pact to bind them. “That sounds excellent, Takeru. So long as I’m at your side, I will gladly go anywhere.”

“You’re so embarrassing,” Takeru said as he stood, stretching his wings and looking towards the horizon line, a disguise for the fact he didn’t really mean it, “So let’s go?”

“Yes,” said Flame, casting his gaze not at the sky but into the burn of Takeru’s eyes, “Let us go, partner.”


End file.
